The bunch of disadvantaged kids I was tutoring became too good at writing, and their essays were forcing me to confront painful existential questions, so I started trying to turn them on to crime instead.
Switching attention leaves residue. Sometimes I feel like I’m swimming through that residue. The schemas I’m holding need focused and sustained attention, and the cludgy remnants of previous mental states and distractions makes the thinking I enjoy turn into thinking that is exhausting (and poorly done).